Alex Cobb pitches against the Cleveland Indians during the first inning of their game at Progressive Field. (Photo courtesy of David Maxwell/Getty Images)

Put a fork in it, the Tampa Bay Rays’ most disappointing season since 2007 came to a close in disappointing fashion, with the Rays falling to the Cleveland Indians 7-2. The Rays ended the season with a 77-85 record, and their lowest offensive output since the Devil Rays days (more on that below). Alex Cobb took the mound against Indians starter TJ House and allowed ten hits, including a rare two homer second inning. Meanwhile House, while lasting only 49 pitches, proved to be effective, ultimately limiting the Rays to one run in five innings.

The Rays got on the board first in the second inning, thanks to a Sean Rodriguez home run; his 12th on the year and good enough for second best on the Rays (behind Evan Longoria). The one-run lead was short lived, however. David Murphy and Zach Walters both took Cobb deep in the bottom of the inning to give the Indians a one-run advantage.

Cleveland scored again in the bottom of the fifth inning, when Jose Ramirez plated Tyler Holt on a sac-fly.

The Rays managed to put another run on the board in the top of the sixth after Longoria brought Brandon Guyer home with a sac-fly of his own. Tampa Bay held the deficit to two runs until the seventh when the typically reliable Jeff Beliveau gave up three runs, blowing the game open for the Indians.

Brandon Gomes and CJ Riefenhauser finished the game for the Rays, though the offense would never be able to overcome the five run margin.

And that my friends, is how one of the most disappointing years on record ended on a whimper, not a bang. A few game and season peripherals follow.

Noteworthiness

At 612 runs scored (some 88 runs fewer than the previous season), the Rays scored the fewest runs in the American League this season, and the fewest in team history.

The Rays finished the season with 116 home runs hit (12th in the AL) — a difference of 53 runs from the previous year.

Meanwhile, at 1,437 K’s, Tampa Bay struck out the second most batters in MLB history, falling 13 short of the Indians.

The Rays ended the season with a 41-40 road record, and a 36-45 record at home.

Alex Cobb finished the season with a 2.87 ERA, which is fourth best in team history and sixth in the American League. The other Rays starters who ended their respective seasons (162 IP minimum) with a better ERA to that of Cobb were David Price with a 2.56 ERA in 2012 and a 2.72 ERA in 2010, and James Shields with a 2.82 ERA in 2011.

The Rays finished the 2014 season with 1.44 MM fans through the gate — a worst-in-the-league average of 17,858 fans per game — their poorest showing since 2007.As Noah Pransky of the Shadow of the Stadium blog writes,

The 2014 total represents nearly an 800 fan-per-game drop from 2013, which is about right given the team’s terrible start and season-long struggle to reach .500. The rest of MLB attendance remained about flat from 2013.

Its also worth noting the Rays enjoyed another good year on television and stand to make major financial gains when they renegotiate their TV contract, set to expire after the 2016 season.

The Indians dropped to just 274 fans per game ahead of Tampa Bay with three games to go, but the season-ending series against the Rays boosted that number back up to 570.

However, had the Indians counted their three weekday single-admission doubleheaders toward their attendance totals, their per-game average would look much different. If you added the 40,129 total fans who saw the three doubleheaders, the Indians’ average would be 18,241 — 344 fans ahead of the Rays. If you don’t double-count the fans from the doubleheader (we don’t know if they watched both games), the Indians would be averaging just 17,746 — 122 fans behind the Rays, who sold about 10,000 more tickets this year.

The Rays began their long off-season all too soon, though I can’t wait to see what kinds of moves they make to bolster the roster going into the 2015 season. While we won’t be putting together updates with the frequency that both Spring Training and the regular season schedules dictate, we’ll be keeping up with all the Hot Stove moves. Hell, maybe we’ll even write about the postseason (cough, let’s go Royals).That said, we’d love to add some contributors to the fold. Know how to read statistics, and have some writing chops? Are you a sarcastic old coot who hates the Yankees or Red Sox? Get in touch: Belowaverageraysfansite@gmail.com

Wil Myers lies on the ground after tripping over first base and being called out in the sixth inning. (Photo courtesy of Darren McCollester/Getty Images)

You may call it lazy journalism, however the last thing I wanted to do was relive Wednesday night’s UGLY 11-3 loss to the Red Sox. Instead, I decided to recap the game as a series of tweets from Marc Topkin and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Back at it Thursday, Jeremy Hellickson will take on Allen Webster in the series finale. Webster (3-2, 5.81 ERA) put together a good three hit/two run outing against Tampa Bay back at the end of July — his first start with the Red Sox. However, in his last start against the Rays, he was tagged for six runs on five hits in four innings of work. You can read about the pitching matchup in our series preview.

The Rays lead the majors with 1,169 runners LOB despite .248 BA. Since 1969, teams that led MLB with runners LOB had average BA of .272.

As is it wasn’t ugly enough, three Rays have gone down with some sort of an injury in the last two days: Yunel Escobar (strained left knee), Curt Casali (concussion), and Wil Myers. Both Escobar and Casali are expected to be out for the last four games of the season.

Rays teammates congratulate Nick Franklin in the dugout after his two-run homer during the second inning of a baseball game Saturday, Sept. 20, 2014. (Photo courtesy of AP Photo/Steve Nesius)

The end is nigh. Six road games separate the Tampa Bay Rays from a long off-season — the death knell of their first non-winning season in six years. First stop Boston, where they’ll take on the Red Sox in the sixth and final series against the two AL East foes.

While I’d hate to acknowledge as much, the similarities between two abound. Both were projected to be at the top of the AL East — yet they sit at the bottom of their division, both have been massively less than stellar, and both have gone through their own share of offensive power outages.

For the Rays, if they hope to finish the season with a .500 record, they’ve got to sweep both Boston and Cleveland. At 68-88, the Red Sox are one win shy of equaling their 2012 total, which marked their worst in a non-strike season since 1965. They surprisingly won road series from Kansas City and Baltimore on a 10-game trip. While the Rays hold a 9-7 advantage in the season series, the Red Sox swept the good guys in their last series in Boston (from May 30-June 1). The two teams split the most recent meeting at The Trop.

Rays and Red Sox series starters (over the last 30 days).

Rays and Red Sox offensive production (at home, away, and over the last 30 days).

Rays vs Red Sox (by the numbers).

Clay Buchholz: Buchholz (8-9, 5.29 ERA) threw a three-hitter in a 3-0 win at The Trop on August 31. The Alberto VO-5 was in full effect in that start which began a three-start winning streak — that streak was snapped in Wednesday’s 9-1 loss at Pittsburgh. The RHP is 8-5 with a 2.21 ERA in 17 career starts against the Rays. He hasn’t given up a run over his last 22 innings in winning three straight meetings. Key matchups: David DeJesus (4-11, 2B, 3 BB), Matt Joyce (7-25, 2 2B, 2 RBI, 4 BB), Kevin Kiermaier (1-4), Jose Molina (8-25, 2B, 4 RBI, BB).

Anthony Ranaudo: As I previously wrote of Ranaudo (3-3, 5.29 ERA), the 24-year-old RHP took the spot of the recently departed John Lackey. Ranaudo features a mid 90′s fastball which he’s able to execute down in the zone, a good curveball, and a change that he can throw against both righties and lefties. Tampa Bay tagged him for three runs in a losing venture against the Red Sox August 29. Key matchups: Yunel Escobar (1-3), Brandon Guyer (1-3, 2 RBI), Kevin Kiermaier (1-2, RBI), James Loney (1-3), Wil Myers (1-3).

Allen Webster: Webster (3-2, 5.81 ERA) put together a good three hit/two run outing against Tampa Bay back at the end of July — his first start with the Red Sox. However, in his last start against the Rays, he was tagged for six runs on five hits in four innings of work. Key matchups: Logan Forsythe (1-3, BB), Nick Franklin (1-2), Brandon Guyer (1-2), Ryan Hanigan (1-1, RBI), James Loney (1-4, 2B, RBI), Ben Zobrist (1-4, 2 RBI, 2 BB).

Noteworthiness

Per Marc Topkin,

RHP Alex Cobb also wishes the stakes were higher. But — with an April oblique strain keeping him from once again pitching a full season in the majors — he takes the mound tonight, and in Sunday’s season finale, with a purpose: to garner experience pushing himself at the end of the season.

Almost a practice session for years to come,” Cobb said.

“It’s tough. Guys are beat up, arms are tired. Proving you can do that, understanding your body, knowing it’s going to be a little bit different than when your arm is feeling fresh and live, it’s just something you want to prove to yourself that when you get to pressure situations late in September next year, hopefully when we’re in it, it’s not something new.”

There is another benefit for Cobb: He needs 82/3 innings for the 162 to qualify for the AL ERA leaderboard. He currently would rank sixth at 2.82.

Evan Longoria celebrates with teammate Wil Myers after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning. (Photo courtesy of Brian Blanco/Getty Images)

There really isn’t much to recap today — besides, I’m in the midst of writing the Rays/ChiSox series preview. Brandon McCarthy pitched to his ERA and bested Alex Cobb and the Rays. Hey, at least Tampa Bay took the series, while also walking away with an 11-8 record against the Yankees this season. Another bright side: we don’t have to hear Girardi ruminate about the Rays “lackluster pitching staff” until Spring Training 2015. Below are a few odds and ends, and I’ll have the series preview up and ready to go by this evening.

Post-game high fives in Toronto. (Photo courtesy of the Tampa Bay Rays)

First, before I get started, something piqued my interest:

(Screenshot courtesy of Fangraphs)

Per Iron Maiden and the Bronx Bummer’s OPS over the 30 days, the Yankees indeed are the devil. Now that that’s out of the way, back to the Rays/Yankees series preview.

The Tampa Bay Rays made their way home on the heels of series win against the Toronto Blue Jays. They are set to welcome the New York Yankees into Tropicana Field, for the final series of the 2014 season. The Rays dropped two of three against the Yankees in the three-game set that directly preceded their excursion north of the border. Tampa Bay held a 4-0 lead into the eighth inning in the finale of that series, when the bullpen collapsed — the relievers allowed five runs in 1-2/3 innings for a 5-4 loss.

For the Rays, as I’ve alluded to on multiple occasions, their raison D’être in the upcoming series — and really, the final 12 games of the season — is two-fold:

Play the role of spoilers. Mind you, they’ll be tasked with facing two potential playoff contenders (New York and Cleveland) in the next four series’.

Finish the year strongly. While they’d have to go 9-3, 10-2, 11-1, or 12-0 over the next 12 games in order to end the season with a .500 (or greater) record, a strong finish — especially by those potentially fighting for a spot on the 2015 roster — would go a long way.

Then there’s the Yankees; a team who, in theory, still has a chance of making the playoffs (per Fangraphs, they have a 0.8% chance of a wildcard berth). Then again, they really haven’t put together a hair-on-fire run in the homestretch of the season like they would need in order to give “Derek Jeter a fit and proper send off” in this, his final season. (Editor’s note, we here at X-Rays Spex really couldn’t care less whether the Yankees gave “Derek Jeter a fit and proper send off”) Rather, they’ve played somewhere in the range of .500 to .600 ball since August 26, dropping four series’ to playoff contending teams all the while.

A presupposition of course, though I’d imagine that Alex Colome (Monday’s starter), CJ Riefenhauser, and Nick Franklin will all see action in the next three days. Not to belittle the promotion of Colome, I’m rather excited to see what Nick “Lil BenZo” Franklin has to offer. If there’s the expectation for Franklin to be Zobrist’s understudy (of sorts), what better time than now for a promotion? Franklin batted .277 with five doubles and four homers (good for a .426 SLG), 12 runs, and 11 runs batted in since August 4 — including postseason play with the Bulls.

Rays and Yankees series starters (over the last 30 days).

Rays and Yankees offensive production (at home, away, and over the last 30 days).

Chris Capuano: The Rays took a 4-0 lead against Capuano (2-3, 4.90 ERA) before the Yankees even came to bat in the first inning, last week. Capuano was able to get only one out before he was quickly pulled in favor of the Yankees September bolstered bullpen. If you’re keeping track, four earned runs in 1/3 of an inning is good for an 108.00 ERA. The Yankees were able to overcome a four run deficit for the first time this season, to beat the Rays by a three run margin. I digress. Key matchups: Yunel Escobar (4-6, 4 RBI), James Loney (5-7, 4 RBI, BB), Evan Longoria (1-4, 2B, BB), Wil Myers (3-3, 2B, RBI, BB), Sean Rodriguez (1-4), Ben Zobrist (2-5, RBI).

Michael Pineda: If we learned anything about Micahel Pineda (3-4, 2.20 ERA) in his previous start against the Rays, it’s that he pounds the zone. But despite the 5-4 loss, the Rays were able to tag him for four runs on 10 hits, including a pair of homers off the bat of Yunel Escobar. Still, they went 2-10 wRISP while stranding six on the bags. Key matchups: David DeJesus (4-12, 2B), Yunel Escobar (6-12, 2B, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 BB), Matt Joyce (3-7, RBI, BB), James Loney (1-3), Wil Myers (2-3).

Brandon McCarthy: The Yankees have taken losses in four of McCarthy’s (9-14, 3.98 ERA) last six starts, including a 5-0 loss to the Rays back on August 15. Ironically or not, Alex Cobb was on the hill for the Rays in that game, and he was spectacular over 7-1/3 innings. To be fair, the Rays are 6-6 in Cobb’s last 12 starts even though he’s been outstanding. If this is a comparison of Wednesday’s starters, the biggest difference is the number of runs McCarthy and Cobb have given up. Cobb has held opponents to two runs or fewer in 12 consecutive games — for a total of 15 runs — while McCarthy has given up 13 runs in half as many starts. Unfortunately for the Rays, that’s more of an implication of the Yankees inept offense than it is to McCarthy’s pitching. Key matchups: Curt Casali (1-3), Yunel Escobar (2-6), Kevin Kiermaier (1-3), Jose Molina (3-1, 2B), Sean Rodriguez (2-8).

Noteworthiness

Per Marc Topkin, “After taking two of three from the Rays last week, the Yankees lost two of their first three at Baltimore, scoring only four runs. SS Derek Jeter’s farewell tour isn’t going well of late, as he went into play Sunday hitless in his past 20 at-bats. 3B Chase Headley has not played since being struck in the jaw by a Jake McGee pitch Thursday. OF Chris Young continues his sizzling stretch that started against the Rays, hitting .417 in six games with eight RBIs. The bullpen, led by David Robertson and Dellin Betances, has been dominant. Key stat: The Yankees have used a team record-tying 56 players this season, including eight who made their major-league debuts.”

The Rays lead the season series 9-7; Yankees lead the overall series 172-119, though Rays are 40-39 since 2010 and 79-66 at Tropicana Field.